By Sudeshna Roy
Loneliness and social isolation are recognized as severe public health challenges in this age of fast-changing lifestyles, technology and information.
We know that social isolation and loneliness have been linked to poorer physical and mental health outcomes, increased health-care utilization and reduced quality of life. Moreover, times are distressing, and the world is going through multiple stressors and poly-crisis (climate change, armed conflict, economic insecurities, etc.) in which the crisis of belonging has emerged as a striking public health concern. Not all are affected in the same way and with the same intensity, yet few are untouched by loneliness or lack of belonging.
According to the Canadian Social Survey (CSS) 2024 data, 13.4 per cent of all Canadians 15 years and older feel always or often lonely, while 36.9 per cent feel lonely sometimes. Loneliness is fairly evenly distributed between genders: 12.9 per cent of men and 14 per cent of women report feeling always lonely.
The risk of loneliness is not equal across the socioeconomic groups. LGBTQ2+ people (27 per cent) and persons with disabilities (PwDs), difficulty or long-term condition (20 per cent) are the most likely to feel lonely always or often. Using Canadian Survey of Disability 2022 data, a study by Immigration, Refugees and Citizenship Canada (IRCC) and Statistics Canada found that PwDs have greater likelihood of being lonely than persons without disabilities and immigrants have greater risk of loneliness than Canadian born people.
Chronic loneliness can push an individual towards social disconnection, feelings of insecurity, unhappiness and eventually may trigger negative mental and psychosocial health outcomes. Understanding the urgency, in 2023 the World Health Organization (WHO) established a Commission on Social Connection for a tenure of three years and would investigate the issue as a global public health priority. WHO further formed a Technical Advisory Group – Social Connection in 2023 to mitigate the problem of loneliness globally. In 2025, WHO Commission on Social Connection published a landmark report outlining the actionable measures to build social connectedness.
Belonging is a public health necessity, fundamental human need and right. To put this simply: healthier communities are built through meaningful human connections and belonging.
This background has paved the way to design Canada’s first-ever Solutions for Belonging Framework. The Canadian Mental Health Association (CMHA) York Region & South Simcoe and the Laboratory for Artistic Intelligence have co-designed a holistic tool for igniting community-driven solutions to address loneliness at scale. The framework recommends creative community-based strategies to reduce social isolation, increase social connections and foster a sense of belonging for all. It defines the enabling conditions for community belonging based on four measurable dimensions.
The first is Presence, which relates to people being seen and feeling mutual connections with each other, where they feel safe, valued, supported and appreciated. People share their experiences, beliefs and understandings in these communities and are able to socialize without fear of judgment or rebuke.
The second is Access, meaning people having choice, means and ability to build connections. Access encompasses availability of resources, adequate social spaces and programs to undertake social interactions irrespective of anyone’s socioeconomic background or identity.
Culture is the third dimension and pertains to inclusion and acceptance. It is the norms, behaviours, customs, value systems, beliefs, ideologies and practices that support and enable people to form and access social connections.
The fourth is Place, which relates to comfort and congruence. The physical and spatial environment, be it in a city, a neighbourhood or a locality, can either encourage, hinder or block social interactions.
This framework has also provided guidance to assess community readiness to actively co-design and implement solutions for belonging. These include motivation and willingness, adequate and effective representation of each social group in the community, data utilization, collection and management, and finally the availability of human, financial, political and public resources for mobilizing efforts toward belonging.
The essence of social prescribing is deeply embedded in the core of our Solutions for Belonging Framework and acknowledges cultivating strong partnerships among health-care providers, community organizations, municipalities and social services. Research has shown that non-therapeutic and non-clinical community-led and community-based activities practiced in a socially charged atmosphere have been instrumental in overcoming loneliness, initiating wellbeing, recovering from an illness and overcoming poor health. Research indicates people gain health benefits when they are in environments that are supportive, caring and connect them to other people, thus lowering the cost of hospitalization and health-care spending. As such, belonging is a quixotic social construct that is essential – an intrinsic, inner, subjective experience that yet can be manifested in how we design and experience spaces, human interactions and life around us, outside of us – and which in turn affects our health and wellbeing.
The framework provides a list of population indicators for tracking level of belonging. Furthermore, it also highlights identifiable risk and protective factors for loneliness. The framework approach provides a practical tool and aims to be a catalyst in transforming how belonging is interwoven into local communities in Canada. Rather than focusing on what makes us different, it aims to find what we have in common – the needs, the resources, the problems and goals.
The Belonging framework emphasizes that building and co-creating safe and equitable spaces of belonging is the primary step to shape up meaningful connections and lead to healthier and more gratifying lives for all in Canada.
—
Previously Published on healthydebate.ca with Creative Commons License
***
–
The world is changing fast. We help you keep up.
We’ll send you 1 post, 3x per week.
Join The Good Men Project as a Premium Member today.
All Premium Members get to view The Good Men Project with NO ADS. Need more info? A complete list of benefits is here.
—
Photo credit: unsplash
